Kenny Leon will be keynote speaker at Decatur Book Festival, kids program to celebrate ‘Harry Potter’

Posted by Dan Whisenhunt
June 12, 2018

Zendaya Richards flips through the pictures of “The Adventures of Amelia, the Crazy Jumping Hedgehog” during the Decatur Book Festival. FilePhoto: Jonathan Phillips

The Decatur Book Festival announced that director and actor Kenny Leon will be this year’s keynote speaker and that the kidnote event will be a celebration of the “Harry Potter” series.

Leon is a Tony-award winning Broadway director. Credits include “A Raisin in the Sun,” “The Mountain Top,” and “Stick Fly.” He has a new memoir, “Take You Wherever You Go.” He is also the Artistic Director of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre in Atlanta.

“We are truly thrilled and honored to have Kenny Leon,” DBF executive director Julie Wilson said in a press release. “His creativity and vision bring to life what we hope inspires our festival attendees. His work is true magic.”

The kidnote event will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in the U.S.

“This year’s Kidnote event will feature a star studded group of popular middle grade and YA authors, including local authors Becky Albertalli, Laurel Snyder, and Nic Stone, talking about how The Sorcerer’s Stone changed the literary landscape for both readers and writers,” the press release from DBF says.

The book festival will be held in downtown Decatur from Aug. 31 through Sept. 2. For more information, click here.